Orlando nearly got on the board in the second minute, when Dom Dwyer missed a wide-open header, putting it on the wrong side of the far post. They'd eventually get there in the 21st minute, when Akindele swooped in to meet a Carlos Ascues set-up. It offset an earlier loss; defender Kyle Smith collided with Sporting 'keeper Tim Melia in the eighth minute. Smith was subbed off several minutes later, face still bleeding as a result of the come-together.

Sporting began the second half with a tactical change, abandoning an experiment in which Jimmy Medranda was deployed in the center of a three-man front line, for a more conventional center forward choice in Erik Hurtado. Another second-half sub, Benny Feilhaber, brought the visitors back to life with some near-misses, including an 83rd-minute shot that just skimmed past the far post, but wasn't able to deliver the equalizer his team was looking for. Felipe Gutierrez cleared a late-match Sacha Kljestan chip off the goal line to keep hope alive, but Orlando was able to hold on through considerable stoppage time for the win.

Goals

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: Orlando brought themselves as close to the playoff line without actually crossing it; they're now even on points with seventh-place Montreal with 26 matches played for both teams. Should it come to goal differential, Orlando pulled even while the Impact have a -11. For SKC, the loss keeps them 10th in the West, and while they're not mathematically out of the playoffs, the math is getting harder.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH: The Akindele goal was the ultimate difference maker, and though Sporting's defense needed to do better to prevent the goal, it was still the product of smart passing and positioning.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Though Akindele's the most obvious choice, Orlando defender Robin Jansson deserves a Late Game Man of the Match award for giving up his body to help preserve the clean sheet late.